The Central Catholic girls basketball team did not crack the Harrisburg Patriot-News' state rankings to start the 2010-11 season.

A 9-1 start has vaulted the Vikettes into the first batch of rankings in the New Year.

Central Catholic, led by junior Kerry Kinek (left) came in at No. 6 among Class 3A teams in the rankings released Monday morning. One of the Vikettes' top competitors in District 11, 10-0 Tamaqua, sits one spot ahead of them in the Class 3A rankings, moving from No. 8 to No. 5. Southern Lehigh (8-2) is listed as a 3A honorable mention.

Northern Lehigh, which took a 9-1 record into Monday, held steady at No. 5 in the Class 2A rankings. Palmerton, which handed Northern Lehigh its lone loss last week, is an honorable-mention pick in Class 2A, but the Blue Bombers actually jumped to 3A this season.

Three District 11 teams -- Nazareth (6-1), Northampton (6-2) and Parkland (7-2) -- are honorable-mention picks in this week's Class 4A poll. Northampton started the season ranked No. 4 but dropped from the top 10 with losses to Parkland and Springfield-Delco. Nazareth started at No. 10 but dropped to honorable mention despite just one loss, a 43-42 setback to fellow honorable-mention pick Downingtown East.

The next two weeks are loaded with games between teams garnering state recognition. Southern Lehigh will play Palmerton and Northern Lehigh next week. Northampton has games against Nazareth and Central Catholic next week. And Central Catholic has a big non-league game Saturday, travelling to Villa Maria Academy, which is ranked No. 4 among the state's Class 3A teams. Villa Maria stunned Central Catholic at the buzzer in the state quarterfinals last year.

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Morning Call Sports Reporters Stephen Miller and Tom Housenick blog about high school and college sports action on and off the field in and around the Lehigh Valley, only at themorningcall.com.

Meet the bloggers

TOM HOUSENICK watches every move Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum makes on the court, laughs at every joke by Lafayette coach Fran O’Hanlon and watches all the Divisions II and III coaches and players do it for the love of the game. Basketball makes the cold weather season go by fast. Already can’t wait for late February and early March when each possession could result in a season ending or continuing on.

Wrapping up his ninth year at The Morning Call, STEPHEN MILLER is back for year No. 4 on the LVC football beat. He chronicled Central Catholic's state-championship run in 2010, watched Nazareth win its first LVC title in 2011 and saw the league crown tri-champions for the first time in 2012. He has also covered the Phillies, college football and a variety of prep sports while with The Morning Call. To stay updated on the 2013 LVC football season, check out the Varsity blog and follow him on Twitter @mcall_smiller.